05/28/04
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 2,154
Year to date: 59,681
The
2004 Election promises
to be a defining moment in the history of our movement.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has said that these elections
represent “A fundamental
struggle for the very survival of
America
’s labor movement.
The future of our movement and over 100 years of progress for
working families is at stake, we must be victorious.”
Make no mistake, if George Bush wins this next election he and
his neo-con administration will fundamentally change the social order to
benefit the big corporations and most wealthy at the expense of the rest
of us. If we are to succeed
we must all pitch in and lend a hand, our families’ futures are at
stake. In two weeks, in
Broward
County
we will have a chance to do something
real and take our message to the streets.
Broward
County
AFL-CIO
Invites
ALL
Union Members and Their Families
Labor 2004 Precinct Walk and BBQ
Saturday,
June 12th and Sunday, June 13th
WE’RE COMING OUT EARLY AND WE’RE COMING OUT STRONG!
Saturday, June 12th
9:30 A.M.
BBQ at
1:30
Sunday, June 13th
1:00 P.M.
BBQ at
5:00
Federation of Public Employees Offices
1700 NW 66th Avenue
Plantation
,
FL
33313
(Behind
Sears
Repair
Center
on
Sunrise
Blvd.)
*** To
volunteer, contact your local union office, or call
Janet Conner
at 954-240-9936
*
Click on blue, underlined text to open full article
STATE NEWS
THE
BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDET
Bush
ready to sign state budget
(
05/27/2004
© Gainesville
Sun)
Gov. Jeb Bush is
ready to sign the state budget a full month before the start of the new
fiscal year, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Bush planned to sign the
budget Friday morning, spokeswoman Alia Faraj
said. His remarks will be webcast live on
the state's Web page.
Group
asks Bush to cut Super Bowl aid to city
(05/28/2004 © Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
A Florida
government watchdog group is urging Gov. Jeb Bush to veto $202 million
from next year's state budget, including $8.6 million intended to help
pay security costs for Jacksonville's Super Bowl. Florida TaxWatch,
a non-partisan research organization, is targeting the budget
"turkeys" not for their merits, the group said, but rather the
channels they went through to become part
LEGISLATURE:
At it again
(
05/28/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
Florida
lawmakers are back in
the pork barrel, big time. A turkey is a pork-barrel expenditure that
doesn't go through the normal review process, isn't requested by a state
agency or is a local project. Two years ago, Florida Tax Watch
identified $297 million worth of turkeys in the budget.
Bush
may hit veto record
(05/28/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to eliminate as much as $400 million in
legislative spending projects today as he signs the state's $58 billion
budget, arguing that as the economy improved and more taxpayer money was
available, legislators got greedy.
Close
call
(05/28/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
In what would
have been a stunning and unexpected breach of faith, Gov. Jeb Bush was
reportedly planning Thursday to veto $10 million for the National High
Magnetic Field Laboratory. Then he apparently saw the light. But if he
changes his mind again and vetoes the money when he releases the state
budget today, it will serve as fair warning that he can't be trusted to
say what he means or
Turkeys
violate state law
(05/26/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
I continue to be
amazed at the arrogance and greed of legislative leaders in gaining
approval of multi-million-dollar appropriations, commonly referred to as
'turkeys,' to serve their own personal interest, the interest of their
university alma mater or their legislative district.
Florida
TaxWatch spotlights what it calls turkeys
(05/26/2004 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE --
Saying lawmakers had resumed their old pork-barrel spending ways, a
tax-watchdog group Wednesday urged Gov. Jeb Bush to veto more than $200
million in projects from the new state budget.
Time
to talk turkey
(
05/27/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Oh, what state
lawmakers won't do behind closed doors with taxpayers' hard-earned cash.
In its annual report released this week, the fiscal watchdog group
Florida TaxWatch identified more than $202
million worth of so-called turkeys that lawmakers clandestinely slipped
into the state budget this year.
Lawmakers
brace for Bush to cut the budget
(
05/26/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- Gov. Jeb Bush has
spared lawmakers the brunt of his veto pen the last two years running.
Times were lean, and lawmakers stuck close to Bush's guidelines for
acceptable community projects.
In
Florida, Internet sales also mean tax losses
(05/20/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
Does the
Sunshine State get its fair share every time goods and services are
purchased from out-of-state Internet or mail-order businesses? The
answer is no, and most consumers don't even know they are responsible
for making sure that the taxes are paid to the Florida Department of
Revenue
Bush
has concerns over proposal to double homestead exemption
(05/27/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
proposed
constitutional amendment that would double the homestead exemption on
property taxes would force cuts in services or higher taxes, Gov. Jeb
Bush said Wednesday.
Legislators
trample on public’s will on higher education
Combative
Board of Governors delays fight
(05/28/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
OCA RATON -
After sparring among themselves for the better part of an hour, members
of the state's higher education governing board decided Thursday against
throwing a political punch the Legislature's way. The
Florida
Board of Governors -
reconstituted in 2002 after voters said they wanted
University
board to ask FSU why chiropractic school is necessary
(05/28/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
BOCA RATON --
Often criticized for allowing legislators to usurp its authority, the
fledgling board that oversees Florida's public universities angrily
signaled Thursday that the practice may be coming to an end.
Board
backs away from power play
(05/28/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
BOCA RATON - The
board that oversees higher education in Florida knows it has the power
to prevent Florida State University from opening what many consider an
unnecessary chiropractic school.
Board
of Governors urged to wield its power
(05/21/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
The professor
providing a voice for about 10,000 university faculty on Florida's
higher education governing board plans to insist next week that the
board grab its constitutional power back. But it's doubtful the Board of
Governors will reach for it - not this time.
Beware
of Gifts From Lawmakers
(
05/27/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
Beware of Gifts
From Lawmakers The Florida Board of Governors, a constitutionally
created agency responsible for overseeing the state university system,
has a choice. It can accept money appropriated by the Legislature to
build a dubious school of chiropractic at
Florida
State
University
, or it...
Budgetary
larceny
(05/27/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
Politicians long
have interfered in higher education, but E. T. York, chancellor emeritus
of Florida's university system, makes a fair point about this year's
peculiar brand of legislative gift-giving. Some of the budgetary perks
tucked into the 2003-04 education budget
ignore not only the wishes of voters, who called for an independent
board to oversee universities, but of the schools themselves.
Jeb
and George – “We will demand accountability from our schools.”
What a crock!
Gov.
Bush backs letting unaccredited schools receive vouchers
(05/27/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE --
Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that his Opportunity Scholarship voucher
program will continue to accept unaccredited private schools next school
year despite a law that appears to say the opposite.
10
of 34 voucher schools unaccredited
(
05/26/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE
-- For at least two
years, state Department of Education officials have permitted
unaccredited private schools to receive failing-school vouchers,
possibly in violation of
Florida
law. Of the 34 schools
taking Opportunity Scholarships this school year, 10 were unaccredited,
|
|
Report:
Voucher money going to some unaccredited private schools
(05/26/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. - Nearly a third of the private schools that take state
money to teach students from failing public schools aren't
accredited, a newspaper reported Wednesday. But state
education officials say they don't have to be as long as they
meet certain standards.
|
Other Education Issues
Students
off the hook for proposed tech fee
(
05/28/2004
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
BOCA RATON
Florida
's state university
students can expect to pay more in tuition next fall. But they'll
probably be spared a pricey new technology fee, at least for now. Some
universities have been angling to charge students as much as $100 per
semester for computer and other technology improvements.
Bush
signs bill to fund middle school reading coaches
(05/27/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
Gov. Jeb Bush
signed a bill Thursday that will provide reading coaches to train
teachers in the state's lowest-performing middle schools and require all
schools to develop a reading improvement plan for children in grades six
through eight.
EDUCATION:
Growing weaker
(
05/28/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
As more proof of
the success of school choice comes in, opponents continue raising
objections but seem to be losing steam. This week, the news was that 10
of 34 voucher schools are not accredited, which could 'possibly' be a
violation of the law.
Older
students reading worsens
(05/27/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
Teachers who
struggled all year to make good readers out of Florida's 10th-graders
wonder what they did wrong -- and how to fix it. While third-graders
posted higher scores again this year on the state's annual reading test,
scores for 10th-graders dipped for a third consecutive year, even after
many teachers made FCAT strategies a key part of their lessons.
Group
blasts school rating measures
(05/28/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
A national
education advocacy group was in the Tampa Bay area Thursday to criticize
state and federal accountability systems that give schools A grades
before labeling them as failures.
Will
they cheat again in ’04 – only if we let them!
Voting
change raises fears of fraud
(05/26/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
Despite concerns that it could open the door to voting fraud, a measure
eliminating the witness-signature requirement on absentee ballots was
signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jeb Bush.
Group
wants felon voter list made public
(05/27/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE --
Hoping to prevent the same mistakes that barred thousands of Floridians
from the voting booth in the 2000 election, civil rights advocates are
threatening to go to court. At issue is the state's new and improved
computer list of 47,000 possible felons
Bush
defends dropping absentee-ballot witnesses
(05/27/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
For the past few years, Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho
has had what he calls the ''six ballot'' rule in his office. If more
than six absentee ballots delivered to his office had the same person
listed as a witness, he and his staff set the ballots aside and asked
the local canvassing board to consider throwing them out.
Absentee-ballot
voting carries few safeguards
(
05/26/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Absentee
ballots allow for the ultimate in arm-chair voting. You fill out a form,
lick an envelope and sign your John Hancock -- all from the convenience
of your living room. The state Legislature keeps making the process
easier, but foes of the absentee strategy say it has gone too far.
Absentee
ballot law is a joke that isn t funny
(
05/27/2004
© Miami
Herald)
``Every vote
should count.'' -- Jeb Bush, upon signing into law a measure doing away
with witness signatures for absentee ballots Our
governor -- what a kidder! If we counted every vote in
Florida
, Jeb's brother would
be spending all of his time -- and not just some of his time -- falling
off his bicycle on his
Texas
ranch.
Unsigned
ballot makes it easier for tricksters
(
05/27/2004
© Miami
Herald)
While we were so
preoccupied with the theoretical, an actual, well-known, historic threat
to honest elections was given the imprimatur of the Florida Legislature.
The talk, of course, has been all about potential risks posed by
touch-screen voting machines and the possibility that some cyberthief
might tamper with the results
Worried
about voting, never fear Glenda Hood is here
The
Secretary of State’s office is conducting a full-on voter education
effort…that’s a good thing. However,
they are not doing anything to improve the accuracy of the felon voter
purge or to provide paper back ups for digital systems.
Also, one of the first ads aimed at the all important
Hispanic/Latino community is a shot of soldiers getting of a plan with
the Spanish message, “We have done our part…not it is your turn.”
Could this be a veiled attempt to remind voters about the war in
an effort to drum up support for President Bush?
Many political experts think so.
Election
chiefs wrestle with legacy of 2000
(05/26/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE --
Elections supervisors across Florida launched a voter-awareness campaign
Tuesday to get people ready to cast ballots later this year, even as
political clouds from the 2000 presidential contest continued to loom
over the state. Secretary of State Glenda Hood touted the education
effort, which features a new Web site, getoutthevoteflorida.com, and is
backed by a range
Elections
chiefs push registration, voter education
(05/26/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TAMPA - Local
officials hope to avoid a repeat of the problem-plagued 2000 election
with a $3-million project to register voters, train poll workers and
educate the public about voting machines. Elections supervisors launched
the inaugural statewide voter education effort Tuesday.
.Secretary
of state tries to calm voters
(05/28/2004 © Miami
Herald)
Amid controversy
over touch-screen voting machines and a purge of felons from the voting
rolls, Secretary of State Glenda Hood sought on Thursday to reassure
anxious voters that 2004 won't be a rehash of the 2000 presidential
debacle.
More campaign rule
changes
New
law ends secrecy on campaign donors
(05/27/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Wednesday one of the most significant
changes in Florida's campaign finance laws in more than a decade.
Political committees, including those run by state lawmakers or
special-interest groups, will no longer be able to shield the names of
their contributors from state election officials and the public.
Fund-raising
loophole closed
(
05/27/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- Certain political
committees will have to disclose the names of their largest donors under
a bill that Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Wednesday. So-called
Committees of Continuous Existence, which lawmakers can establish to
raise money and then donate it to other candidates, political committees
or political parties, will have to provide the name and address of
anyone
Charlie
Crist announces his run for the Governor’s
office…well kinda
Crist
opens formal check into gas prices
(05/26/2004 © Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
TALLAHASSEE --
Two months after the idea was suggested by Democratic legislators,
Attorney General Charlie Crist on Tuesday
opened a formal inquiry into gas prices that have now exceeded $2 a
gallon. Crist, a Republican, subpoenaed
eight oil companies -- Exxon Mobil, Chevron-Texaco, British Petroleum,
Amerada Hess, Citgo,
Marathon
, Motiva
(Shell) and Conoco-Phillips -- for
documentation
Crist
never met bandwagon he didn t jump on
(
05/28/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Attorney General
Charlie Crist is fighting Big Oil. He just
started an antitrust investigation of eight oil companies to get to the
bottom of these high gas prices. "We will do whatever is necessary
to find out if the companies are violating the law while they reap huge
profits year after year," Charlie said. This follows his lawsuit to
block increased phone rates.
Florida
Election 2004
New
poll shows Bush, Kerry in dead heat in Florida
(05/26/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
President Bush
and Sen. John Kerry are in a statistical dead heat in Florida less than
six months before the presidential election, according to a new Zogby
International poll.
Republicans
leave Byrd camp
(05/26/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Four Republican
state legislators have rejected the candidacy of their leader, House
Speaker Johnnie Byrd, and endorsed Mel
Martine
z for U.S. Senate on
Tuesday.
Martine
z
wasn't the only
Republican Senate candidate announcing endorsements.
Byrd
tells Jacksonville voters he s the true Republican
(05/28/2004 © Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
Florida House
Speaker Johnnie Byrd wound through a speech about being a 'true
Republican' outside Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, when an American
flag tilted and began to fall in the breeze Thursday afternoon. He
clutched it and quickly cracked about 'what a great country.'
Cheney
to stop in Bay on campaign trail
(05/28/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
Touting
Northwest Florida voters as 'very important' to President George W.
Bush's re-election campaign, a group of Bay County Republicans has
arranged for Vice President Dick Cheney to speak June 14 at a local
fund-raiser.
GOP
leads Bay voters
(05/26/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
For the first
time in history, the party whose first president, Abraham Lincoln, led
the
Union
to victory against the
Confederacy has more registered voters in
Bay
County
than does the
Democratic Party.
Rep.
Byrd Launches Ad Campaign
(05/26/2004 © Tampa
Tribune)
TAMPA - Johnnie
Byrd has become the first Republican in Florida's U.S. Senate race to
take to the airwaves, advertising to try to gain ground against two
better-known rivals for the party nomination. Byrd, trying to position
himself to the right of those candidates, also is getting help from the
Club for Growth
Led
by men of clarity or secrecy?
(
05/26/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
In the recent
legislative session, secrecy seemed to overshadow Florida House Speaker
Johnnie Byrd's efforts to control the distribution of taxpayer dollars
for legitimate research for a cure to Alzheimer's disease. Now Byrd is
seeking election to the U.S. Senate, a body of 100 of the most
influential Americans of our time.
Other
state issues
Governor
Defends New Kidcare Rules
(
05/26/2004
© Capitol
News Service)
Governor Jeb
Bush says he stands by a new law that will require parents of children
receiving Kidcare insurance to prove they
meet income guidelines. The Director of the Florida Kidcare
program says more than 167-thousand children could lose healthcare under
the new requirements.
Only
bullet-train repeal is left of the anti-amending agenda
(
05/25/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
If all had gone
as planned, this election year would have been a referendum on
referendums. But this is
Florida
politics. Things don't
go as planned. The referendum on referendums was supposed to include:
repeal of the class-size amendment; repeal of the bullet-train
amendment; new amendments to discourage new amendments by requiring a
supermajority for passage;
A
veto in order
(05/26/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
Shortly before
adjourning, the state Legislature attempted to undermine voluminous work
by educators, child specialists, business lead ers
and others, including his own lieutenant governor, to help Gov. Jeb Bush
make
Florida
a national leader
Workers
comp nightmare seen
(
05/26/2004
© Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
Underwriters are
fearful of a veto by Gov. Bush that could force policyholders to cough
up more cash. By MICHAEL BRAGA michael.braga@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA
-- Michael Voigt
signed up in March for an insurance policy from the the
Florida Workers' Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, knowing
that his
Sarasota
construction company
might be assessed if the state-run
Prison
contracts get another vote
(05/26/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Prodded by Gov.
Jeb Bush to avoid giving the Department of Management Services a legal
headache, the Correctional Privatization Commission decided Tuesday to
hold one more vote on contracts for three privately run prisons.
Patients
Are At Risk
(
05/26/2004
© Tampa
Tribune)
Legislators who
helped pass a bill that licenses anesthesiologist assistants did
Florida
's patients a
disservice. If the governor allows this bill to become law,
Florida
's surgical patients
will be put at risk because anesthesiologist assistants do not have the
nursing or medical background that prepares them to act in an emergency.
FDLE
steps up probe of Orlando s 04 elections
(05/26/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
The state's top
law-enforcement agency on Tuesday intensified its investigation into
Orlando's March elections, saying the probe into potential voting
irregularities and fraud could result in racketeering charges.
Is
law real or smoke and mirrors?
(
05/28/2004
© Jacksonville
-
Florida
Times
Union
)
TALLAHASSEE
--
Florida
's nearly year-old
smoking ban at restaurants has brought 1,167 statewide complaints and
only a single $250 fine in
Northeast Florida
, state records show.
State officials say the law that prohibited indoor smoking is working
smoothly and that ignorance, not defiance
GOP
Lawmakers Tout Session
(05/28/2004 © Lakeland
Ledger)
LAKELAND --
Legislators had a relatively fruitful session, increasing funding for
Polk and other midsized school districts and creating a way for
consumers to compare health-care costs and quality, more than 300
Lakeland area business leaders were told Thursday.
NATIONAL
NEWS
Wal-Mart Watch
TAXPAYERS
BUILD WAL-MARTS...--Taxpayers
have paid out more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies to
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, according to a new report
released May 24 by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit research group. The
report, "Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money
to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth," shows Wal-Mart, which made a
$9 billion profit last year but pays poverty-level wages to its workers,
received sales tax rebates and property tax abatements to help finance
the building of 84 Wal-Mart distribution centers since the 1980s. The
subsidized buildings account for more than 90 percent of the company's
national warehouse network--at an average subsidy of $7.4 million. To
read the report, visit http://www.goodjobsfirst.org
. The AFL-CIO Food and Allied Service Trades Department (FAST) reported
last month that the five Walton family members, controlling owners of
Wal-Mart, benefit from the tax system in other ways: They will save at
least $196 million in federal income taxes this year alone and $1.1
billion over the next six years thanks to the Bush administration's tax
cuts for the wealthy. ...AND PAY
HIGH COST OF LOW WAGES--Taxpayers in California pay about $10
billion a year for workers at low-wage employers such as Wal-Mart
through public health services, tax credits, child care programs and
other assistance for the working poor, said a new report by the Center
for Labor Research and Education at the University of California,
Berkeley. "The Hidden Public Costs of Low-Wage Jobs in
California
" found nearly
half the funds from the 10 biggest statewide public assistance programs
went to families with at least one full-time worker. The report
recommends raising the state minimum wage from $6.75 an hour to at least
$8.
Study:
Wal-Mart reaps more than $1B in public subsidies
Houston
Business
Journal
5/26/2004
Mart
Wins One, Loses One in Chicago
New York
Times
5/26/2004
Wal-Mart's
low prices come with high cost
Cincinnati
Post
5/26/2004
Council
OKs Austin Wal-Mart
Chicago
Sun-Times
5/27/2004
Wal-Mart's
Mixed Success Where Land Is Costly
New York
Times
5/26/2004
Wal-Mart
asks to expand in 'new territory' of Chicago
USA
Today
5/26/2004
Wal-Mart's
social, economic effects discussed
Oklahoma
City
Daily
Oklahoman
5/26/2004
Wal-Mart
goes dialing for support
Chicago
Tribune
5/26/2004
Election
2004
Bush
Meshes Official, Political Stops to Cut Campaign Costs
Los
Angeles
Times
5/28/2004
Kerry
to Accept Nomination at Convention
New York
Times
5/27/2004
Election
ads fill state's airwaves
St.
Petersburg
Times
5/27/2004
Bush's
vanishing act
Baltimore
Sun
5/27/2004
2006
Cuts In Domestic Spending On Table
Washington
Post
5/27/2004
As
Ashcroft Warns of Qaeda Attack, Some
Question Threat and Its Timing
New York
Times
5/27/2004
Kerry
offers plan to phase out U.S. dependency on foreign oil
Portland
Oregonian
5/26/2004
Who's
Better For The Economy: Bush Or Kerry?
MTV
News
5/26/2004
Bush
Visits Youngstown To Talk Health Care
WCMH-TV
NBC 4
Columbus
Protesters
Get Anti-Bush Message out to Media, Not President
Youngstown
Business
Journal
5/25/2004
Bush
Protestors Make Voice Heard
WYTV
5/25/2004
Drug
companies still scamming the people…with George’s help
DEMOCRATS
SUE OVER MEDICARE COSTS--Democratic
House members filed a lawsuit May 17 to force the Bush administration to
make public its estimates on the true cost of the Medicare prescription
drug bill. The White House assured lawmakers and the public the bill's
cost would not exceed $400 billion, only to divulge increased cost
estimates after the bill was signed into law. Meanwhile, the U.S.
General Accounting Office (GAO) reported May 19 the Bush administration
violated federal restrictions against using taxpayer money for
propaganda when it distributed mock news videos to promote the Medicare
prescription drug law. After the bill passed last fall, the Department
of Health and Human Services distributed the video "news
releases" to television stations around the country praising the
drug program and using actors as "reporters." The GAO found
because viewers could not tell the message came from the government, the
video violated restrictions against using federal funds for publicity or
propaganda. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org
.
AARP:
Drug prices soaring
5/26/2004
USA
Today
Big
day for “free” trade…bad day for fair trade
Trade
Pact Signing Today
San Francisco
Chronicle
5/28/2004
Administration
reaches agreement on free trade deal with Bahrain
NewsFlash
5/27/2004
Gregg
Asked to Oppose Free Trade
The
Union Leader
5/28/2004
US
job fears over Central America pact
Financial
Times
5/27/2004
Trade
Vote Won't Be Held Before Election
Washington
Post
5/28/2004
SBC
workers get contract
SBC
reaches tentative deal with union
USA
Today
5/26/2004
SBC,
union settle fast after 4-day ministrike
Cleveland
Plain Dealer
5/26/2004
SBC,
Union Agree to 5-Year Pact
Los
Angeles
Times
5/26/2004
Continued
overtime fallout
O.T.
RULES THREATEN NURSES, POLICE--The new Bush administration regulations
on overtime pay, scheduled to go into effect Aug. 23, could deny
overtime pay to nurses and police officers, union leaders said. Cheryl
Johnson, R.N., president of United American Nurses, said in a May 19
telephone press conference the new regulations would make it easier for
employers to deny overtime pay to hourly employees, including most
registered nurses. Dennis Slocumb, executive
vice president of the International Union of Police Associations, said
the definition of police duties in the regulations is so vague that an
employer could easily interpret it to refuse overtime pay to many police
officers. Both called on Congress to pass legislation to prevent the new
overtime regulations from taking away overtime pay rights from workers
who qualify under current rules. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org
. Meanwhile, the House Republican leadership for a second time refused
to allow debate or a vote on the overtime rules. By a 216-199 party-line
vote, the House on May 18 tabled a motion by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)
to include overtime pay protections in the Labor Department
appropriations bill.
Congress
moves to gut OSHA
On party-line
votes, the House on May 18 passed four bills that would make enforcement
of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) more difficult and
do nothing to enhance workers' safety and health protections. One bill,
H.R. 2728, weakens the requirement that an employer respond within 15
days to contest a citation. H.R. 2279 and H.R. 2730 make changes to the
Occupational Safety and Review Commission, and H.R. 2731 requires
taxpayers to pay the legal fees of small employers in some instances.
The four measures have been packaged into one bill and sent to the
Senate.
The
Bush Economy
BUSH
PROP DROPPED--The Canton,
Ohio, manufacturing plant President George W. Bush used as a backdrop
last year to show his economic policies were working is one of three
Timken Co. plants being shut down, putting 1,300 people out of work.
Timken announced May 14 it will close the bearings plants because of
declining production and shift most of the operations to other
U.S.
plants.
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contact our communications director at (850) 224 – 6926 or at rtemplin@flaflcio.org.
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